Natalia Robledo-Contreras had to fight from the age of eight to be recognised as Dutch and almost lost her family in the process
It felt like a dirty trick. Natalia Robledo-Contreras still has trouble believing what happened the day she and her younger sister first applied for a Dutch residence permit. An immigration official refused to accept the girls’ applications until their parents came with them. Robledo-Contreras, then 17 years old, and her lawyer were suspicious. What if this was a ruse to detain her parents, who like the sisters were undocumented in the Netherlands?
But with the official refusing point blank to take their forms, her mother relented. She was detained immediately upon arrival. “I cried non-stop, even after my mum was released later that day,” Robledo-Contreras says. “She was ordered to leave the country immediately.”
Continue reading…Natalia Robledo-Contreras had to fight from the age of eight to be recognised as Dutch and almost lost her family in the process‘We want to build a life’: Europe’s paperless young people speak outIt felt like a dirty trick. Natalia Robledo-Contreras still has trouble believing what happened the day she and her younger sister first applied for a Dutch residence permit. An immigration official refused to accept the girls’ applications until their parents came with them. Robledo-Contreras, then 17 years old, and her lawyer were suspicious. What if this was a ruse to detain her parents, who like the sisters were undocumented in the Netherlands? But with the official refusing point blank to take their forms, her mother relented. She was detained immediately upon arrival. “I cried non-stop, even after my mum was released later that day,” Robledo-Contreras says. “She was ordered to leave the country immediately.” Continue reading…